


Still Waters

by SailorChibi



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Fluff, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes has a heart, Cuddling, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Hydra Pietro Maximoff, Hydra Wanda Maximoff, M/M, Not Pietro Maximoff Friendly, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Steve Rogers Feels, Time Travel, Time Travel AU, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark Time Travels, Wanda Maximoff is Hydra, all the feels, because surprise!, bucky barnes is not the man that steve remembers, but also contains details of beyond, not wanda maximoff friendly, so this actually features twice the amount of Tony, takes place during age of ultron, they are both enemies of the avengers here and do not join the team, tony stark is done with thanos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:33:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26291929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SailorChibi/pseuds/SailorChibi
Summary: James didn't know what to think when he stumbled across an older version of Tony Stark who claimed to be from the future. He had no idea that agreeing to help Stark to stop the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver would change everything.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 170
Kudos: 1395





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, the Wanda salt is strong in this one. Fair warning.

It was cold.

He exhaled slowly, watching the way his breath came out misty white before fading away. The grass crunched beneath his feet when he took a step. There was a fine layer of frost on the surrounding trees. They were having a late spring this year, and so the mornings were still chilly before the sun rose. But in time the frost would be gone, and the fog would burn off.

That was actually a good metaphor for the way he felt about himself. James Barnes gave a rueful smile and reached up to pull out the elastic holding his hair up. Tangled and thick, his hair fell around his shoulders. He waded into the stream. Most people would have shied away from the water’s cold bite, but he didn’t. After so long without really feeling anything at all, he welcomed it –

But again not everyone did, and he was reminded of that by the sound of a disappointed huff from the shore.

“I won’t be long,” James said, a small smile crossing his face. He luxuriated in the feeling, because he _could_ smile now, and now a smile was no longer a reason for a punishment. Not that there had been much to smile about back then.

He washed himself quickly, using a small, cheap bar of soap that he’d shoplifted and his hands. Then, naked but clean, he climbed back up onto the bank and sat down on the grass. Almost immediately, a tiny head was thrust under his flesh arm. A warm tongue began trying to chase the water droplets still rolling down his chest, and James shook his head.

“You’re going to get yourself wet, зайчик,” he said fondly.

Stepan sat back on his heels and barked. James’s smile widened as he reached out to gently rub the pup’s head. He had come across this little dog about three weeks ago, trapped at the bottom of a steep embankment. Even now, James didn’t really understand what had driven him to save the dog. The cool logic of the Winter Soldier had told him to leave the dog behind, because dogs attracted attention and would be another mouth to feed – both things that could make his life harder.

But James hadn’t been able to turn away from that low whine, and before he’d known what he was doing he had clambered down the bank and picked the pup up. He was a scraggly, sad looking thing with knotted, patchy fur. Black in color at first from dirt and mud, he had turned out to be a chestnut brown once his fur was properly washed. The sole except was his right paw, which had a splotch of paler brown fur on it.

He’d had every intention of leaving the dog behind somewhere, maybe in a small town or something. But somehow, he hadn’t. Somehow, he had taken to calling the dog ‘Stepan’. And then somehow, he had given the dog the nickname of ‘зайчик’ – rabbit, in Russian, because Stepan’s ears looked strangely reminiscent of a rabbit’s ears when they stood up from his head. Stepan responded well to both his name and nickname, coming when called without hesitation. 

Dogs were a liability, but apparently James owned one now. That was probably the Bucky Barnes side of him.

He laid back against the hard ground and watched the sun finish coming up. Stepan eventually curled up beside him in the crook of his arm. Here, surrounded by woods for at least a couple miles in every direction, it was easier to forget about Hydra and the fact that they were still hunting for him. Even though they shouldn’t be. They hadn’t yet grasped that James could be dangerous, _would_ be dangerous, and still thought of him as a lost sheep that could be brought to heel.

Of course, most sheep weren’t brutally tortured, mind wiped, and then turned into murderers. But James like the idea of it anyway. Hydra was never going to get their hands on him again. He had already taught a few of them why they should fear the Winter Soldier, and in time he was going to show more. He wouldn’t stop until Hydra burnt to the ground.

But first, they were going to eat breakfast.

James stood, gently dislodging Stefan, and pulled on his clothing – also stolen, though from someone’s clothesline not a store. The jeans didn’t fit very well, and the shirt was too big, but the shirt sleeve covered his metal arm and he liked the feel of denim and cotton. It was the complete opposite of the perfectly tailored, tight, confining armor that he had worn as the Winter Soldier. He picked up Stefan and padded, bare foot, back towards his camp.

They didn’t get far before Stefan growled. James froze, scanning the trees around them. Stefan was a generally cheerful dog, James had noticed, but he never hesitated to get into a fight. If he was growling now, that meant something, or someone, was nearby who wasn’t supposed to be. James shifted the dog’s weight to his flesh arm and surreptitiously slid a knife out of his jeans with his metal hand. Only then did he proceed.

Within half a minute he came across the problem. There was a man laying on the ground about a quarter of a mile from James’s campsite. Stefan growled louder when the man came into view, and James paused. 

The man was laying on his back, face turned towards the sky.

It was a familiar face, if only because no one existed in this day and age without having at least some awareness of who Tony Stark was.

But what would Stark be doing here? James was still in Europe, not yet having worked out how to make it overseas into North America – he wanted to make it to Canada, but that was proving harder than he’d anticipated. There were no towns nearby; James had left the last one behind some fifty miles ago, and it had been a very tiny place that quantified more as a village than a city.

“Stark?” he said out loud, and that was a mistake.

Stark stirred, eyes opening, and James stiffened. Stefan picked up on his tenseness and growled for a third time, which of course drew Stark’s attention right to them. Stark rolled over and pushed himself up onto his knees. He looked up with a wide-eyed, dazed expression, but there was no alarm in his face even when he caught sight of James. 

“Barnes?” he said, sounding confused. “What are you doing here? Wait, Rogers isn’t with you, right?” He looked slightly more alive at that, eyeing the woods around them as though an ax murderer might be hiding in them instead of standing right in front of him.

“No,” James said, which was the truth. He wasn’t sure why Stark would think he and Steve were together. James hadn’t seen Steve for weeks, and frankly he had no interest in seeing Steve anytime soon. The way Steve had looked at him and talked to him made him uncomfortable, because it was like Steve wasn’t seeing _him_ but a ghost that no longer existed.

“No,” Stark echoed, eyebrows furrowing. Then his eyes widened again. “Wait. Did it work?”

Did _what_ work? James wasn’t about to ask, but he was sure the question was written across his face.

“What’s the year?” Stark demanded, surging to his feet. That might have been construed as a threat, except he wobbled alarmingly once he was standing and went pale. He had to lean against a tree to keep from falling, and even hen he looked like he could barely keep upright.

“It’s 2015,” James said, figuring there was no harm in responding to that. The year was common knowledge, after all, to apparently everyone but Stark.

“2015. Holy shit. It worked,” Stark said wonderingly. 

Perhaps he’d lost his mind. James contemplated that for a moment until Stefan whined to be put down. He obliged and watched as his once loyal dog trotted right over to Stark. Stefan put his paws up on Stark’s knee and whined again. Stark bent down, seemingly on autopilot, lost his balance, and fell to one knee with a grunt. Stefan thought that was great, of course, and began to lick Stark’s face. Stark smiled absently and petted him before looking back up at James.

“You probably won’t believe this, but I’m the future. Approximately three years from now, give or take a few months.”

It was laughable; most people would’ve continued thinking Stark had lost his mind. Time travel was not a thing.

Yet James was a man who could punch a brick wall with his flesh hand and shatter it. He had a functioning metal arm and could go for close to a week without a sip of water or any sleep. He had been alive for close to a hundred years, by his reckoning, and didn’t look a day older than twenty-three. _He_ should not have been a thing either.

“The future,” he repeated when it became clear that Stark was waiting for some kind of response, and looked more closely at him. Mentally, he compared a picture of the Stark he’d seen on television a couple days ago to the man in front of him.

This Stark had longer hair, falling in a handful of curls across his forehead and into his eyes. Said hair was now threaded with silver, and his infamous beard was almost entirely grey with just a scattered few brown hairs. There were new lines on his thin face – actually, he was thin all over. The clothing he wore, which had probably once been finely tailored, hung off of him.

Make-up could do a lot, James knew, but he didn’t think it could do _that_.

Stark was nodding. “The future. September 2018, to be exact. I’m not really sure what month it is. We – I was aiming for January 2015, but…” He scuffed a foot against the ground and frowned when the soil moved. “I think our – my aim was a little off.”

Clearly, Stark’d had a partner in however he’d gotten here. His disorientation was probably the only reason he’d allowed that to slip. His knowledge of Stark’s associates was flimsy, but James remembered reading Hydra dossiers on Dr. Bruce Banner and Dr. Jane Foster. There had also been that alien, Thor. Any of them were a viable candidate for something like time travel.

“Why are you here?” James asked, and readied himself just in case the answer was that Stark was looking for a fight. He still remembered appallingly little of the past several decades, and even less of the life of Bucky Barnes, but sometimes flashes of the people he’d killed would come to him at night. He’d dreamt of Howard Stark, once or twice, so it was just as likely as not that the Winter Soldier had killed the Starks.

If Stark was here to kill him, then he’d know the answer was yes.

But Stark straightened up, still on one knee, and said, “The Avengers are going to fracture apart. Something’s going to happen… soon, probably.” He looked down at the ground again, then back up at James. “That can’t happen. They need to stay a cohesive team. There are things out there bigger than any of them, and they’re heading right for us.” His breathing quickened as he spoke.

“Okay,” James said.

Stark blinked at him. “Okay? That’s it?”

James shrugged, unsure of what else Stark wanted him to say. This didn’t concern him.

Evidently Stark disagreed, because the next words out of his mouth were, “And I need your help.”

“Why?” James said again. He wasn’t that good at saying ‘no’ yet, but questions were becoming a bit easier.

“Because the thing that’s going to fracture the Avengers is Hydra,” Stark said.

James stilled at that, and Stark nodded.

“Two of them. The Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver. Heard of them?”

“Yes,” James breathed. Oh yes. He knew of those two. The Scarlet Witch’s name had been murmured with increasing fear amongst the lower level Hydra soldiers. She was a violent monster. If you were called to see her, you did not come back.

“I thought so,” Stark said grimly. “They’re going to meet up with the Avengers, and it won’t be pretty.” He forced himself up again, having calmed, and this time was able to remain standing. “I can take care of them myself, but I thought you might be interested in some revenge against Hydra.” He was trying hard to sound casual in a way that belied the truth: he probably wasn’t strong enough to take care of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver on his own. Not right now. Not fast enough to stop whatever he wanted to stop.

But James was, and taking out the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver would cripple Hydra, and so James nodded. Stark smiled. It was a thin, empty smile below cold eyes. 

It was a smile for Hydra to be afraid of.


	2. Chapter 2

The truth of the future came out in bits and pieces over the following few weeks. Stark liked to talk, that was obvious from day one, but it rapidly became clear that he wasn’t expecting James to _listen_. The first couple of times that Stark glanced up and realized that James was watching him avidly, he was so shocked that he actually fell into a stunned silence and just blinked.

James also figured out quickly that while Stark talked a lot, he didn’t always say much of substance. You had to listen carefully to pick out what Stark _wasn’t_ saying. Luckily, listening was a lot easier than talking so it was something that James had experience with. And he didn’t mind listening to Stark. The man’s roughened voice was oddly soothing.

He was able to piece together that at some point in early 2016, things with the Avengers were going to come to a head. And it involved him, though Stark wouldn’t say how or why. James could guess, though. Steve had been trying to hunt him down with a dogged stubbornness that echoed faintly back to days spent in Brooklyn: days that James didn’t remember, if he was being honest, beyond what’d he seen at that Captain America exhibit at the museum.

Stark had ended up largely alone, from the sound of it, while Steve and the other Avengers hid away from the law to avoid persecution. It seemed that contact between them had been scarce for the better part of two years, when things went to shit in 2018. Some four to six months later, Stark and an undetermined number of persons had created a time traveling device that ended up with Stark here.

James wasn’t sure about Stark’s plan. Based on what he’d gleaned from Stark, in addition to what he already knew from his own research and what he’d learned from his time with Hydra, there were already cracks in the Avengers. They weren’t _really_ a team, and only came together when it was necessary. James had his doubts about whether Stark would be able to resolve that, though of course he did not say as much.

Nor did he leave Stark, though he could have. It would’ve been easy to slip away with Stefan while Stark was asleep, but James did not. He couldn’t have said why. He even stayed up that first night, staring at Stark and contemplating walking away.

But he didn’t.

He couldn’t.

But he didn’t understand why until one night, about three weeks after Stark showed up out of nowhere, when Stark said, very quietly, “I know that you killed my parents.” 

That’s when James realized why he hadn’t gone. Subconsciously, he felt like he owed Stark something. But he thought he should have realized that, and he probably should have gone, agreement to help take down the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver or not. Because that was the first time it occurred to him that _he_ might be the next one on Stark’s list. 

“I found out by seeing the video of it,” Stark went on, staring hard into the fire. The flames reflected in his eyes, turning the brown color to molten gold. “You were there – well, you _will_ be there. And so will Rogers. He knows, you know. So does Romanov. Either one of them could have chosen to tell me at any point, but neither of them do. It was the thing that broke the Avengers apart.”

James didn’t know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

“And I was angry… so angry, I can’t even tell you. At you, at myself, at my father, at Rogers. It took me a long time to figure everything out. I couldn’t tell the future you this, even though he’s the one who deserves to hear it. So I’ll tell you. I forgive you.” Stark looked up finally.

“How?” James whispered before he could stop himself, shocked. Because while thoughts of atonement had crossed his mind occasionally, forgiveness had never been even a _passing_ thought.

“As much as I hate to say it, it wasn’t your fault.” Stark smiled, but it wasn’t a nice smile. It was bitter, and sad, and angry, but James didn’t understand why. 

“Yes, it was,” he said, confused.

Stark shook his head. “No. You didn’t want to do it. You were the weapon and Hydra was controlling you. That wasn’t your choice. It would be like… like if a gun had shot them, or they would in a car crash, I wouldn’t blame the gun or the car. I would blame the person who was using it. I like to think most people would have that sense.” Again, there was that twisted smile. 

But this time, James knew why. Everyone knew about the Scarlet Witch’s crusade against Tony Stark. She blamed him for the death of her parents, and she was not shy about sharing that fact. James didn’t know the full story – honestly, sometimes James felt like he knew _nothing_ at all – but he did know that the Scarlet Witch’s anger was misguided. She just wasn’t willing to listen to anyone who pointed that out to her.

“I’m still sorry,” he said, very quietly.

Stark blew out a breath, shoulders slumping. “Thank you for that. I appreciate it.”

James nodded, still unsure. It would take a while before he could wrap his mind around the idea that someone had forgiven him for what he’d done.

“I’ve been toying with the idea that I should make contact with my past self,” Stark went on. “I just didn’t know if that was a good idea.” He looked expectantly at James, who blinked for a moment before realizing that Stark wanted his opinion.

“Uh – I’ve never met the Tony Stark of this time. Would he listen to you?”

“Good question. My memory is a little sketchy after so long, but I think the cracks in the Avengers were already starting. At this point, Rogers is probably secretly running around the world on my dime trying to find you.” Stark glanced at him.

James gave another nod, this time resigned. “Yeah, he’s doing what he can to find me. I don’t really want to see him right now, but he hasn’t got the hint.”

Stark laughed out loud at that. “Rogers isn’t very good at subtlety, especially when something or someone is going against what he wants. You could tell him to his face that you don’t want to talk to him, but if he wants to talk to you it doesn’t matter. He’ll ignore what you want because he thinks you can’t know what you want as well as _he_ knows what you want.”

That sounded about right considering James’s experience so far, though he didn’t say as much. He just frowned and reached down to pet Stefan’s belly while he thought about the pros and cons of contacting the past Stark. On the one hand it sort of made sense if Stark’s goal was to stop the Avengers from breaking apart, and they could probably use the past Stark’s help in dealing with Hydra. On the other hand, that would put him into closer contact with Steve and ran the risk that the past Stark might turn him in…

“It’s okay,” Stark said, unexpectedly gently. “You don’t have to come. I know I said that my goal was just to get rid of the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, but…” His shoulders slumped. “They weren’t the only problem with the Avengers. And maybe the team is too far gone to be saved, but if there’s even a chance… I feel like I owe it to the Earth to try. At the very least, I want to give my past self a heads up, so he doesn’t find a few things out the way I did.”

“I haven’t been able to figure out a way to get into the U.S. or even Canada,” James said, straightening up.

Stark blinked at him. “I – what?”

“Getting over there won’t be easy. I assume you want to talk to past Stark face to face,” James said.

“Yeah, I thought that would be easiest. I’m a skeptical asshole, so he’ll need to see proof. I have some money.” Stark reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet. The only thing inside was a debit card.

James looked at it askance, confused, and Stark gave him a quick smile.

“It’s attached to one of my – well, one of past Stark’s many bank accounts. A lesser used one that no one actively monitors, because no one except for me and JARVIS knows it exists.” Stark breathed out, expression suddenly tense. “My memory is crappy, but I always made sure that there was a couple hundred thousand bucks in there. This card is good here and now, so we – er, I shouldn’t have any problems.”

“You thought of everything,” James noted.

“I had help,” Stark said, a little sad and a lot wistful. “So if you want to come, you can. But if you don’t, I get it. I’m asking a lot and you don’t even know me.” 

That was true. James didn’t really know him. But he knew _of_ him, of the past Tony Stark, and he thought that maybe Stark had grown up a lot in the intervening years. Still, he couldn’t shake the concern over Steve and part Stark. He wasn’t ready to face Steve. He might not _ever_ be ready, but he knew he would have to at some point. Just not now. So he said as much.

“I don’t want to see Steve.”

“You don’t have to,” Stark said immediately. “The Avengers don’t live in Stark Tower. At one point, I thought they would, but that never worked out. They’re at the Compound… or maybe the Compound is still a work in progress. I can’t remember exactly. But the point is, they won’t be at the tower. We never really got together unless there was a reason.”

“But you said that the Avengers are going to encounter the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver soon,” James pointed out, remembering what Stark had said when he first appeared. It seemed like it had been so long ago, when in reality it had only been about three weeks ago.

That realization gave him pause. Had he and Stark really been out here in the woods for three weeks? The damage done to James’s pitiful store of food said yes. He hadn’t willingly spent this much time with another person in years. Since his escape from Hydra, being around other people was stifling. Exhausting. That was one of the reasons why he had Stefan.

But something about Stark was different.

While James was puzzling this out, Stark spoke. “I would need to find a computer to double check the date, but I don’t think that’s going to happen for another week. Maybe more. It’s somewhere around late April, right?”

James nodded. 

“And the Avengers weren’t called in until literally the day it happened, so there’s time to work in between. I’d hoped for more time, but time travel is surprisingly inaccurate.” Stark ran a hand through his hair, leaving a few strands sticking straight up. “When we went there that day, no one knew about Quicksilver or the Scarlet Witch. We were more concerned about Hydra.”

“They’re sneaky,” James said quietly, recalling some of the more unsavory tales whispered about those two. Rumor was that the Scarlet Witch had a fondness for surprising her victims. One of her favorite games was to blind people and then let them try to run while her brother ran literal circles around them.

“Exactly. Anyway, if you don’t want to come, I guess this is where we part ways.” Spark’s voice was reluctant, and James realized with some surprise that Stark didn’t want to separate.

“Would your past self turn me in?” he asked bluntly. “I am the Winter Soldier.”

“Were,” Stark said, very kindly, and then shook his head. “I don’t think so. It took me a while to come to terms with everything, but that’s because of how I found out. We won’t tell him about the Winter Soldier’s part in everything right away. Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are more important. I’ll tell him afterwards in private, and he can have time to process it all. That’s the respectful thing to do.” He sounded almost mocking.

“Then I’ll come,” James said before he could change his mind, and felt a small twist in his gut at the brilliant smile that lit up Stark’s face. He was happy, James realized. Genuinely happy that James had said yes. When was the last time that someone was happy about _James_ , not Bucky or the Winter Soldier? He didn’t know if that had ever happened before. 

It was weird, but nice.

Definitely nice.


	3. Chapter 3

Tony was quiet on the ride back to New York. He was a little battered and bruised from the fight with Hydra, but nothing worse than usual. More than anything, he was preoccupied with thinking about how _easy_ that had been. There had been no surprises. Just your typical Hydra goons and Strucker surrendering. Things _never_ went that easily so there had to be something he was missing, but what?

Strucker had been muttering something about ‘the twins’ when they took him into custody, but Tony wasn’t sure what or who he’d been referencing. He’d already set JARVIS to searching Hydra’s records for any mentions of twins; there was also a chance that Hill might know, so he planned to follow up with her when they landed. Other than that, he couldn’t think of a single thing that had been out of place.

He'd have to go over the footage from the Iron Man suit when they got back to the tower, he decided. Maybe there was something he had missed in the confusion. He’d have the time now, since that was the last Hydra base that they knew of. With this mission, they had successfully retrieved the scepter and Thor was going to take it back to Asgard where it would be safe. 

He settled back in his chair and glanced over at the rest of the team. None of them were paying him any attention. Natasha was preoccupied with Bruce, who was still upset about the Hulk being called into action. Clint was preoccupied with a couple of scrapes and gashes he’d received. Steve and Thor were both staring out the window. He wondered what Thor was thinking about in particular. Was he satisfied? Wistful? Seeing the scepter probably made him think of Loki…

They landed the jet on the tower’s tarmac and everyone got up. Hill came up as Tony made his way off the plane, and that’s when he found out that she did indeed know who ‘the twins’ were. She named them as Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Somehow, Tony didn’t know why, just the sound of those names sent a chill up his spine. 

He would learn why much sooner than he realized.

“You wanna take a look?” Bruce asked, distracting him from Hill. Tony glanced over at him and saw that Bruce was nodding in the direction of the scepter.

“Sure,” Tony said. Anything they could learn from the scepter before Thor took it back to Asgard would be immensely helpful. He had vague thoughts about how the scepter might be beneficial to the Iron Legion, though he wouldn’t know anything concrete until he, Bruce and JARVIS took a much closer look.

“I’m just gonna go shower and change,” Bruce said with a faint grimace towards the borrowed clothing he was wearing. 

Tony was about to say he would be downstairs waiting, but a second glance down at himself quelled that thought. “I’ll meet you down there in an hour,” he said, realizing that he was pretty damn grimy himself after all that. He could and had gone much longer in the suit but being inside a Hydra base always made him feel like he needed a shower in the worst way.

So he headed upstairs to his own private floor and promptly got the shock of his _life_.

“Hello,” said a man that looked uncannily like the reflection Tony saw in the mirror every morning. Except – not. He looked older, more tired and worn, and he was wearing a set of ill-fitting clothing that Tony wouldn’t have been caught dead in. Tony stopped and stared. 

“What the fuck?” he burst out. “Who the hell are you? How did you get in here? JARVIS?”

“I’m here, Sir,” JARVIS said, which was a relief. Tony would have really freaked out if JARVIS had been incapacitated. As it was, he backed up a step and wished that he hadn’t taken the armor off on the jet. He’d feel a lot more comfortable right now if there were several pounds of titanium gold alloy between him and whoever the hell this was.

“How did you get in here?” he demanded again. Why hadn’t JARVIS warned him about an intruder? Why hadn’t the tower’s security systems been activated?

“JARVIS let me in,” said the man.

“JARVIS!” Tony exclaimed, more accusatory this time. And maybe, if he were pressed, a little scared.

“Don’t blame him. I’m you. Or you’re me. Or… you would have become me at some point, but that’s kind of what I’m here to prevent,” the man said. “He had to let me in. I know everything that you know, including all the security codes and passwords you – I – we worked into the system. That’s also why he didn’t tell you about me since I’m sure you’re wondering.”

“It’s true, Sir. I verified his identity. He is you,” said JARVIS.

“A clone?” Tony said, suddenly glad that he was wearing the wrist gauntlet. It wouldn’t offer him as much protection as the suit did, of course, but the gauntlet was capable of doing some damage at close range. And while there was a healthy distance between him and the intruder, he was uncomfortably aware that Hill had been saying something about one of the twins having super speed. If Hydra had been messing around with human experimentation, that wasn’t something Tony wanted to take a risk on.

The man sighed. “No, I’m not a clone. I know that this probably wasn’t the best way to approach you, but I also knew that you wouldn’t just show up to meet a stranger so… here we are.” He spread his arms. Something glimmered through the life of his shirt. A familiar light. Tony took a step forward before he could stop him, eyes locked onto that sight. 

“Is that the arc reactor?” he whispered, stunned.

“Yeah…” The man unbuttoned his shirt to show it off. “It’s not embedded in our chest anymore, but I have to wear it because of the suit.”

“The suit?” Tony said, dragging his eyes up from the arc reactor reluctantly. That was technology that couldn’t be replicated. Of course, it might just _look_ like the reactor. That didn’t mean it _was_ the reactor. Anyone could create a look alike, but only one person could create the real thing.

“I figured you wouldn’t believe that I’m from the future. Luckily, I have an easy way to convince you.” The man gave a smile and lightly tapped the arc reactor. Tony’s jaw dropped as something flowed from the reactor, covering the man from head to toe in the span of seconds and forming a full Iron Man armor.

“What?” Tony breathed. He’d thought the briefcase armor was something to be proud of, but that was –

“Nanobots,” the man said. The faceplate melted away. “I started experimenting with them about a year ago, so still a couple years away for you. I figured out that I needed a way to keep the armor much, much closer to me.” His smile faded.

Tony stared at him for a long moment, eyes narrowed. His level of disbelief but was high, but he was slightly less skeptical now. No one could replicate the armor either; he’d seen enough shitty recreations to know that. All of Tony’s armors were accounted for. This one wasn’t exactly like the armors he wore – but to his experienced eye, it looked like _more_. 

There was a very small chance this guy was telling the truth.

“Alright,” he said. “Talk.”

\--

“Mocha latte for Anderson!” the barista called out.

James moved up and quietly accepted his cup, then headed outside. He unwound Stefan’s leash from the post and then headed back uptown, moving through the crowds in the direction of Stark Tower. Even as busy as it was, the tower was easy to see. It rose above the city like a beacon. He stared up at it as he drew nearer, wondering how the two Starks were making out.

He still wasn’t sure he agreed with Stark’s plan, but he wasn’t sure of a good alternative. It wasn’t like James had any interest in meeting the present Tony Stark face to face any sooner than he had to, and Stark had been adamant that things would go much better if he had the chance to meet the past Stark first and explain a few things. Just what he wanted to explain, James didn’t know, and he hadn’t asked.

He walked Stefan for a little while before taking up residence in a small park about a ten-minute walk from the tower. There, James settled against a tree and drank his coffee with one hand while petting Stefan with the other. No one paid him any attention. He liked that. In New York, so long as he didn’t run into Steve, he was just another person. That kind of anonymity was valuable.

It was probably another hour or before his burner phone beeped. James checked it, typed out a quick response, and tucked the phone away. His heart started pounding a little harder and he kept a much closer eye on the people entering and leaving the park, so he saw them the instant they appeared.

At first glance, the two Tony Starks could easily be mistaken for each other. At second glance, they were so different that you’d wonder how you ever mistook one for the other. Though identical in height, the Stark of the future was thinner and walked with his shoulders hunched. He was wearing ill-fitting clothing and, even from a distance, was oozing a general air of exhaustion.

The Tony Stark of the past, on the other hand, was wearing clothing that fit perfectly and matched down to what looked like a brand new pair of shoes. His facial hair was neatly groomed, and the hair on his head had been recently cut. He walked with his shoulders thrown back and a confident, sure stride that suggested people should get out of his way.

“This is him?” Stark of the past said, jerking his thumb towards James as they neared.

“That’s him,” Stark of the future confirmed.

And James promptly found himself the target of two brown-eyed, scrutinizing stares. It was too late to start having second thoughts, but damn if that moment didn’t fill him with doubt that he was in way over his head.

“So you’re Bucky Barnes,” Stark of the past said, still staring.

“That’s me, though I prefer James,” said James. The name ‘Bucky’ made the hair on the back of his neck prickle with discomfort.

“Right. And Cap doesn’t know you’re here,” Stark said, still with that funny look on his face.

“No, and I’d really prefer that he doesn’t find out,” James said, getting to his feet. Stefan woke at the moment and yawned loudly, stretching.

Stark of the past looked down at Stefan and his expression softened. “Who is this cutie?” He bent down to greet Stefan.

Stark of the future – oh, fuck it, this was getting confusing. James mentally relegated the future Tony Stark to the name “Tony” and the past Tony Stark to the name of “Stark”, if only because he was going to get a headache very shortly. _Tony_ beckoned to him and James followed him a short distance away, though he kept a close eye on Stark and Stefan.

“It seemed to go well. He didn’t believe me at first, but I had proof that he couldn’t ignore it,” Tony said in an undertone. He was very close, so close that James could easily smell the coffee and donuts Tony had consumed earlier that morning.

“And did he agree to stop Ultron?” James asked. The name felt funny on his tongue, kind of strange. He didn’t know if he’d ever get used to the way that name made Tony wince.

“Yeah. He’d already heard about Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver from SHIELD, which was good, and he knows enough about the scepter to be wary of it. And luckily, we were able to keep the Scarlet Witch away from him so he’s not operating under her influence,” Tony said.

James wouldn’t exactly call it luck. The fight between him, Tony, the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver hadn’t gone great. Tony had taken on the Scarlet Witch, while James had fought with Quicksilver. The twins were every bit the formidable opponents they had been rumored to be. And while neither side had won, James and Tony had been able to keep the twins away from the Avengers. So that was a win, all things considered, even if the twins had promptly escaped.

“So what now?” he asked.

“Now… I have a lot more things to tell my past self. And then we’re going hunting for Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver,” Tony said, a gleam in his eyes that James was quickly growing to appreciate. He found himself smiling. The next fight with those two was not going to end in a draw.


	4. Chapter 4

Stark Tower was unbelievably advanced. It was kind of amazing. James was a little uncertain at first, but Stark made it clear that they had the run of the floor he had given them. He called it a “guest floor”, but since it was outfitted with what looked like the finest furniture that was on the market today, James wasn’t sure how true that was. Needless to say, the accommodation were legions above a raggedy tent in the woods.

“I can’t believe I’m back here,” Tony said in a wondering tone, looking around. 

“You didn’t live here anymore in the future?” James said curiously.

Slowly, Tony shook his head. “No… I ended up selling the tower. Officially it was for business purposes, but really I just didn’t want to be here anymore.” He hunched his shoulders slightly, eyes flicking around. James honestly couldn’t tell if he was happy to be here or not.

“We didn’t have to stay here,” James pointed out.

Tony straightened up, giving him a small smile. “Yeah, we really did. I need easy access to Stark, and it’s safer here. Hydra will _never_ be able to get you here.” He sounded protective, surprisingly. Protective of James. Like he really cared about whether or not that Hydra ever got to James again. The realization made a weird flutter happen in the pit of James’s stomach. 

He cleared his throat. “That’s good, because… you know… Code words.” He weakly gestured to his own head, as though the mere mention of the code words didn’t send a stark chill down his spine. He never wanted to become that killing monster again, but he was always conscious that he might not have a choice. There was a reason that he never went near any Russian-speaking communities: just the sound of the language spoken in an unfamiliar voice was enough to send him into a panic attack.

“Right. The code words,” Tony said, his smile sliding off his face. “That’s one of the things I need to talk to Stark about. We may be able to do something about that.”

“Really?” James said, shocked. 

Tony nodded. “In the future, an engineer at Stark Industries was working on a machine. Some things happened and he ended up being fired, but his machine was sound. I called it Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or B.A.R.F. for short.” He grinned as James pulled a face.

“B.A.R.F.? Seriously?” James asked.

“Hey, you can’t say that it isn’t memorable,” Tony said with a twinkle in his eye.

James rolled his eyes. “I guess. What does it do?”

“I can give you the full rundown later, but basically I’m hoping it can change or even eradicate those code words from your brain. That way, no one can ever use them against you again.” 

“Really?” James breathed, stunned. He had never dared to hope, but –

Tony nodded at him. “That’s my hope. I never got the chance to implement it in the future for… various reasons.” He looked away, pressing one hand to his chest. “But I really want to this time around. I don’t remember exactly where that engineer would be with the machine at this point. I’ll have to check into it, and some updates had to be made to it… He had different intentions for the application of it that I didn’t agree to.”

“That’s okay,” James said, still reeling.

“It’s really not. There’s so much to look into and check up on.” Tony sighed, moving his hand from his chest to forehead. “I don’t even have FRIDAY to help.”

“I can help,” said an unfamiliar voice. James startled badly and brought his hands up, automatically moving to take a defensive stance in front of Tony.

“Hey, no, it’s okay,” Tony said soothingly, setting a hand on James’s shoulder. It was weird. He was stiff and tense whenever someone made a move into his personal space and made it a point to keep distance between him and other people – unless that person was James or Stefan. He was all over Stefan, and even handsy with James, forever putting a hand on James’s shoulder or sitting and standing close enough for their shoulders to touch.

He wasn’t afraid. Even knowing about the code words, Tony wasn’t afraid. James didn’t know what to do with that information.

“That’s JARVIS,” Tony went on. His voice trembled ever so slightly when he said the word ‘JARVIS’, and James glanced at him sharply.

“Greetings,” said the voice again. It was a man’s voice, polished and smooth. “My name is indeed JARVIS. It stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System.”

“He’s an artificial intelligence. The smartest in the world,” Tony said, not without pride. 

James was not an idiot. He put two and two together and said, “Did you lose him in the future?”

Tony’s jaw tightened. He visibly swallowed before he nodded. “It was… a mistake. I made a mistake.” His voice was heavy with grief. 

“Hey,” James whispered, because he didn’t know what else to say. He wanted to offer some words of comfort, but nothing came to mind. He sort of knew what people said when they were trying to make someone feel better. But putting that into practice? Even thinking about it made him feel awkward and confused and scared of making a bad situation worse – and all of those feelings were heavy indeed.

So he said nothing, just looked helplessly at Tony.

Stefan whined, startling them both. James looked down just in time to see Stefan plant his front paws on Tony’s leg. Tony glanced down too, and his expression smoothed out. He took his hand off James’s shoulder in favor of reaching down to pick up Stefan.

Immediately James felt the loss of that small bit of warmth, of _connection_. He had to stop himself from moving closer.

“We were ignoring you, huh boy?” Tony said, rubbing his cheek against Stefan’s head. Stefan gave a happy bark now that he was the center of Tony’s attention and eagerly began to lick Tony’s face. In a matters of seconds Tony was laughing and playfully trying to dodge the kisses.

James wasn’t fully sure he understood what the word meant, but what came to mind at that moment was _beautiful_.

By the time Tony had settled Stefan down, the grief was long gone from his face and he seemed more settled and at ease. Stefan was panting contentedly in his arms. James continued to stare, even though he knew that most people would find the attention rude, so it wasn’t long before his and Tony’s eyes met. They stared at each other over Stefan’s head, both quiet.

Surprise flashed across Tony’s face, his eyes widening slightly.

James didn’t know why.

He just knew that he envied Stefan in that moment, and that it was one of the strongest emotions he had felt since breaking free of Hydra.

“Oh,” Tony said, more to himself than to James. 

James blinked at him. Still, he said nothing. There were so many feelings bubbling up in his chest that he could not name, much less begin to understand. 

At least, not until Tony moved a couple steps closer, leaned in, and kissed James on the cheek.

Suddenly, James understood why Tony had said “Oh” the way that he had.

 _Oh_.

Was _that_ what _this_ was?

“If that wasn’t okay, feel free to punch me,” Tony said, watching him closely. 

And James realized that he didn’t want to.

He wanted more.

He found himself reaching for Tony without conscious thought; Tony set Stefan down and let himself come closer. James didn’t know what to do, but luckily Tony did. He put one hand on James’s cheek and the other on James’s shoulder and touched their mouths together. It was gentle, fleeting, more of a brush of lips than anything, but it was still enough to send a shiver down James’s spine.

It was _gentle_. No one had been gentle with him in a very long time.

But he realized that Tony was. He always was. He filled in the silences that James couldn’t; he had never once asked about Stefan’s presence or even suggested that Stefan be left behind; he had never complained when James jerked awake at night, sweating or shaking with fear. Instead, he usually got up and kept James company. And maybe that was because Tony had trouble sleeping too, but it was still more than anyone else had ever done.

From the moment they met, Tony had asked nothing of him but the year. That simple realization made James wanted to give this man _everything_.

Because somehow, he trusted Tony Stark.

“Do you know I can’t even remember the last time I kissed someone?” Tony asked quietly when they were just resting against each other, Tony’s head on James’s shoulder. They had only exchanged a few kisses, but James’s mouth felt as though it was burning pleasantly.

“No,” he said.

Tony snorted. “Oh god, that’s terrible of me. You can’t even remember your childhood.” He made to pull away, but somehow James’s arm had wrapped around his waist. Tony looked at that arm, and then he looked at James.

“Sorry, it has a mind of its own,” James said, deadpan.

“That’s – wait, I genuinely don’t know if I’m supposed to be laughing,” Tony said, squinting at him. “Is that some kind of horrible joke or what?”

James just looked at him.

“… Right. Okay. First on the list, a new arm for you,” Tony muttered, tapping his finger idly against the metal arm. It made the arm ache up near the joint, but it was a sensation that James had long-since grown used to. 

He had never given any consideration to a new arm. The arm was what it was. A reminder of Hydra and the terrible things that they had made him do. James had contemplated tearing it off, but honestly he wasn’t even sure how to do that. Knowing Hydra it was entirely possible that they had rigged the arm with an explosive decide in the event it was removed. 

“I think in the future Shuri was working on a new one for you, but I had sent her some notes and we were talking about it. I’m not sure if we’ll be able to make it from vibranium… can’t exactly melt down Cap’s shield this time,” Tony mumbled. “Have to look into some other sources or maybe make contact with T’Challa…”

James was content to let him ramble, leaning down to scratch Stefan’s head. It was a little hard to believe that he and Tony had just been kissing. It was even harder to believe that James wanted to do it again, but he did.

He hadn’t _wanted_ much of anything since leaving Hydra.

Before finding Tony, it felt like all of his days had existed in a haze.

He’d just been wandering around, trying to keep away from Hydra and not hurt anyone else, but with no real purpose outside of that.

Tony had given him a purpose. But he hadn’t ordered. He’d _offered_.

He’d given James a choice.

No one, not even Steve Rogers, did that.

Stefan barked, breaking Tony out of his haze. Tony shook his head and blinked a bit, then smiled when he saw that James was crouching down and giving Stefan a full body rub.

“You know, most people want me for what I can give them,” Tony said. “But if I told you right now that I couldn’t do anything about the code words or your arm, you wouldn’t care. Would you?”

James considered that for a moment, feeling he should give it some serious thought, before he said, “I would tell you to run.”

“Run?” Tony repeated.

“I’m dangerous,” James said, dropping his gaze to Stefan. This was an innocent animal. The Winter Soldier didn’t usually hurt those as long as they didn’t get in his way.

But people?

Sometimes he dreamt of the innocent people he had disposed of through the years. There were so many. Too many. Adding Tony to that list was unthinkable.

Tony breathed out and said nothing. But he moved closer, clearly telegraphing his movements, and lightly ran a hand through James’s hair. James shivered at the strangely intimate touch. How could something so simple feel so good?

“You should know I’m pretty damn stubborn,” Tony said softly. “I wouldn’t go.”

And James didn’t know why, but those words, as scary as they were, felt like something to hold onto.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a character death, just as an fyi.

For two days, they remained at the tower and nothing happened. James was used to waiting: being a successful assassin usually meant waiting quietly for your target to drop their guard, so patience was easy for him. Tony didn’t seem to feel the same way. When he wasn’t buried in the phone that Stark had given him, he was very restless, often pacing back and forth and muttering under his breath. 

James wasn’t sure what he was so preoccupied with. Future stuff? Tony hadn’t been completely forthcoming about everything, which was understandable. Just based on what little Tony shared so far, James didn’t think he wanted to know all of it. He would listen if Tony needed to talk about it, of course, but the future sounded like a very bleak place indeed, full of death and pain and grieving, and James had already experienced enough of that...

But he knew that there would be more death soon. He couldn’t stop until Hydra had been completely destroyed. Unfortunately, there were _many_ loyal Hydra agents who, likewise, wouldn’t stop until either Hydra succeeded or until they were dead. That meant the majority of them would need to be killed, and James had already accepted that he would be the one to do the deed.

So that meant he wasn’t overly eager to hear more details about a bleak future. Yet as he watched Tony make another sharp turn and pace back over to the windows, he was no longer sure that was optional. He examined Tony’s face, taking note of the strain in it, and wondered how best to phrase an offer to listen. No one had ever offered that to him before, so this was a bit out of his depths –

“I’m going to go talk to Stark,” Tony said suddenly.

James blinked. 

“I didn’t get the chance to tell him everything. There’s more he needs to know. I’ve been trying to decide just _how much_ …” Tony wrung his hands together. “The Avengers need to stay a team. I know what Cap is capable of, but it’s not really fair to blame him for what his future self did because technically this Cap hasn’t done all of that shit yet.”

Again, James blinked. That was a very strange sentence to hear, but he understood what Tony was trying to say. Was it fair to condemn the present Steve Rogers on the basis of what i>might happen? But at the same time, was it really fair to keep that information from Stark? It seemed like one of those questions with no appropriate answer.

“What do you think?” Tony said, swiveling towards James. The sunlight crossed his face, deepening the lines under his eyes. 

Silently, James stood up and walked over to him. He reached out and took Tony’s hands in his. His hands were a little bigger than Tony’s, and of course one of his hands were metal. He liked Tony’s hands. They were strong hands, calloused and scarred in places, but these were hands that made good things happen. These were hands that could shape a good future. The right future.

“Tell him what has happened so far,” James said quietly. It felt strange to give his opinion, but Tony had settled under his touch and seemed to be listening intently. “You’re right. What happened in the future may or may not happen again. Cap could make different choices this time. You being here has already changed things.”

Slowly Tony’s shoulders relaxed as the tension bled out of him, and he gave a bitter smile. “You’re right. Of course you are. Part of me wanted to poison the well… I want to ruin things for Cap because I don’t feel like he deserves any chances. But that’s me, not Stark. I’m here so that Stark will never have to feel that way.”

James nodded because that seemed to be what Tony needed. Privately, he thought that it was unlikely that Stark would have much forgiveness for Steve. He didn’t know the whole story, but it sounded like Steve had been keeping secrets. A lot of secrets. Not the least of which was that the Winter Soldier had killed Stark’s parents. It was hard to say if Stark would be able to come to terms with knowing that Steve knew and hadn’t told him.

“Right,” Tony said, sighing. “Okay. Wish me luck.” He leaned forward, brushing their lips together. That familiar, pleasant burn rushed through James.

But he didn’t get a chance to enjoy it. Tony pulled away, sighed again, and left. Presumably to talk to Stark. James wondered what Tony was going to tell him. Before, Tony had said he was going to wait until after Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch were dealt with to tell Stark about his parents. But maybe Tony had changed his mind and decided to do it earlier.

Stefan whined softly. James looked down at him. The pup got up on his back legs, putting his front paws on James’s knee. James nodded at him. Even though his stomach swooped unpleasantly at the thought of Stark’s anger leading to him being arrested, he couldn’t dwell on that. What would happen was going to happen and there was nothing he could do about it, so he might as well take Stefan for a walk.

It was warm outside, a sign of the coming summer, but James still pulled on his jacket and hat. He walked Stefan a couple blocks away, letting the pup lead their way and go where he wanted. He’d enjoyed the anonymity of New York a lot over the past two days, but today the skin between his shoulders prickled uncomfortably. 

_He was being watched_.

The realization settled around him like an uncomfortably heavy blanket, yet he changed nothing on the outside. Inwardly, he ran down the short list of people who would have caused to follow someone like him around.

It could be Steve, but that was unlikely. Steve was not subtle. He absolutely would have made contact if he saw who he thought was Bucky Barnes casually walking a dog down the street. If it was Steve, there was zero doubt in James’s mind that Steve would be in his face right now spouting off about friends and the past.

It could be Hydra. That was a possibility. They had agents all over the place, though not every agent was high enough to know the Winter Soldier’s face. It would be just James’s luck if he happened to stumble across an agent that did, though. Hydra seemed most likely.

But it could also just be a journalist. Stark was a very public figure and people were forever trying to get pictures of and information on him. Yesterday morning, there had been a whole crowd of journalists waiting at the door when Stark left the tower for a meeting. There was a small chance an enterprising journalist had been hanging around, waiting for Stark to leave, and saw James go instead. Maybe they were wondering why a strange man was leaving the tower with a dog.

He casually stooped down and picked up Stefan, tucking the pup under his flesh arm. That left his metal arm free. Then he started heading back towards the door. The feeling persisted the whole way back, and he knew for sure that he was being followed. It was a relief to pass Stefan off to the doorman at the tower, knowing that JARVIS would make sure that Stefan got safely upstairs.

Then James turned and headed back down the sidewalk, taking out his phone. He shot a quick text off to Tony, but he didn’t know if Tony would see it. Whatever he wanted to talk to Stark about had seemed serious, so Tony might ignore any texts going to his phone. Or he might not. With Tony, it was hard to say. Either way, James decided not to rely on Tony seeing it.

He quickly ducked into a café and made his way to the back of the room, swiping a coat off someone’s chair as he went. He slipped into the employee-only area and slid the coat on over his own jacket, peeking back out. His heart thudded against his ribs as a red-haired girl entered the café.

There was no need to get a look at her face to know who that was.

James swore quietly in Russian, realizing that the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver had somehow tracked them down. Or more likely, he realized, they were here for Stark. The Scarlet Witch had a serious vendetta against Tony Stark, so he supposed they should have guessed she would come looking for him. Or not she - _they_. Wherever she was, Quicksilver couldn’t be far behind.

Maximoff’s eyes darted around and then settled unerringly on the place where James was hiding. He gritted his teeth, knowing that she was using her powers to figure out where he was. The only thing he didn’t know what if she knew who he was, or if she thought he would be an easy target to try and use against Stark. Knowing her, she’d already been in his head – or tried anyway.

It was the one “gift” that Hydra had left him with. His brain was so fucked up from what they’d done that he was largely immune to Scarlet Witch’s mind games. Hydra had been disappointed to learn about that, but not so disappointed that they stopped sticking him in that damn chair. He didn’t know if Maximoff knew that or not. He hoped she didn’t.

He left ahead of her, leaving the door open a crack, and so was waiting for her in the alley when she stumbled out the door in search of him.

“Witch,” James said coolly, unafraid. He had faced down much worse than the Scarlet Witch. 

Her hands glowed red. “Who are you?” she demanded. “ _What_ are you? You feel familiar, but I can’t get into your head.”

“I guess that tells me exactly how much attention you paid to everyone around you,” James said, sneering at her. Then again, she’d probably never seen the Winter Soldier’s face. She couldn’t hurt him, so he was beneath her notice.

Maximoff scowled and lifted her hands. Flickers of red lashed from her fingers. James dodged her magic easily. She wasn’t nearly as fast as her brother; she might have had considerably more powers than Quicksilver did, but her reflexes were those of a normal human. 

James was much faster than a normal human. He lunged toward her and was up in her face before Maximoff could do more than draw in the breath to scream. He caught her around the throat with his metal hand and squeezed. The red light of her eyes and hands died as she gulped for breath, jerking against the tightness of his grip. Of course, she got nowhere.

The fact that Quicksilver didn’t immediately intervene told him that the Scarlet Witch had been stupid enough to approach him on her own. That was stupid of her. She didn’t know it, but she was the easier one of them for James to deal with alone. Quicksilver’s speed meant that it would be better if an Iron Man or two were in close proximity.

“Let me tell you who I am,” he breathed in her ear. “You’ve probably heard of me. I’m the Winter Soldier.”

Maximoff froze.

He could _feel_ the way she stilled, like a dumb frightened rabbit suddenly realizing that it had unwittingly stumbled into the path of a predator.

Unfortunately for her, it was much too late for her to even think about fleeing.

“Hydra messed with my brain a lot. So much so that your powers don’t work on me. I guess I should thank them for that,” James said, loosening his grip just enough to let her get a couple gasps of air. 

“Fuck you!” she spit out. “You’re a traitor to Hydra!”

James scoffed. “If you were as smart as you think you are, you would defect too. But let me guess. Hydra is _easy_ for you. You’re a good weapon for them, so they treat you well. The only reason someone like you would switch sides is if you saw the writing on the wall and had no choice.” He tightened his grip again and she gave a helpless sputter. 

“You picked the wrong man to mess with. I won’t let you hurt Tony Stark,” James told her, keeping his voice deliberately soft. 

That made her eyes light up in rage, sparks of red raining down on his hand, but she couldn’t even get enough breath to make it hurt. James smiled with cold satisfaction. Normally remembering the kills he’d done bothered him. But he didn’t feel a thing as he choked the life out of her. It only took a couple of minutes before the Scarlet Witch would never be able to hurt _anyone_ ever again. 

He opened his hand and let her body hit the ground.

One down. One to go.


	6. Chapter 6

“He’s heading uptown!”

“I’m on my way,” James said, keeping an eye out as he reversed trajectory and started heading in the opposite direction. The motorcycle thrummed beneath him; he smiled grimly and slammed his foot down on the gas.

He hadn’t really anticipated that killing the Scarlet Witch would open up a can of worms, so to speak. But that was exactly what had happened.

He’d called Tony, not really knowing what else to do with the body considering that they were smackdab in the middle of downtown New York, and Tony and Stark had shown up pretty quickly along with a bunch of other people in suits that James didn’t know or _want_ to know. What none of them had realized was that their gathering had drawn the attention of Quicksilver. And once Quicksilver figured out that his sister was dead, he’d lost his shit. 

Which led them to where they were now, trying to track Quicksilver down. Two Iron Man armors patrolled the skies above the city while James, who had quickly discovered that not even super soldier speed was enough to keep up with Quicksilver, resorted to using a motorcycle that Stark had given him. The problem was that no sooner did he get to one location than either Tony or Stark would pop up and say Quicksilver was somewhere else.

“This isn’t working,” James muttered into the communicator. It fit snugly in his ear and somehow picked up on his voice even though it was no where near his mouth. Modern technology was good for something, at least.

“Well, we’re open to new ideas,” Stark said. “Feel free to share.”

“We need to lead him somewhere,” Tony said.

“We need bait,” James said slowly, bringing the bike to a stop. Horns blared around him, but he ignored them as he thought this idea over. Right now, Quicksilver was tiring them out by making them chase him back and forth. That was stupid; they were literally playing into the kid’s game.

But surely Quicksilver would want to kill the guy who had killed his sister, right? That meant James had to put himself out in the open.

“Wait a minute. What do you mean, bait?!” Tony demanded.

“I’m heading for the park,” James announced, starting the bike back up. He did a tight turn and started driving in the direction of Central Park. “Once of you needs to bring some attention my way.”

“I’m on it,” said Stark. There was a quiet click, and then a subtle change to the line that told James that it was just him and Tony now.

Sure enough, Tony said, “I don’t like this. Quicksilver is going to be gunning for your butt, and I happen to like your butt the way it is.”

James smiled to himself. “The sooner we take him down, the better,” he said. “Tony, he’s going to hurt someone if we keep letting him jerk us around like this. We have to lure him out.”

“I hate when you make sense,” Tony grumbled, which just made James’s smile widen.

“It’ll be fine,” he said with a confidence that he didn’t feel. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to do to stop Quicksilver, but then he hadn’t known what he was going to do to the Scarlet Witch until his hand was around her throat. Sometimes, improvisation really was the best method.

James held onto that thought all the way to Central Park.

And then he saw the Avengers.

He slammed on the brakes, but it was too slow. They’d already spotted him. A sickening feeling formed in his gut when he saw the look of realization on Steve’s face. James brought the bike to a stop again and they stared at each other for a long, tense moment.

“Incoming!” Stark yelled – not into the communicator, but from above.

That was all they got before a literal whirlwind smacked into them at full speed.

James went flying, feet leaving the ground by a good twenty feet before the wind released him; he hit the ground shoulder first with a pained grunt. So did someone else. James sat up first, catching his breath, and realized that it was the archer. The guy looked dazed as he sat up, one hand groping around for his bow. James grabbed it off the ground and stuck it in the guy’s face.

“You got anything to slow someone down?” he asked.

The guy blinked, taking his bow. “Uh – yeah, actually. But it doesn’t work on Quicksilver. I can’t get a lock on him.”

“Could you do it if he stood still for like two seconds?” James said grimly.

“All I need is one second,” the guy said, eyes sharpening. 

“Then that’s what you get. Hide.”

The guy – Hawkeye, that was his name – went running and James stood up, ignoring the unexpectedly sharp ache in his right shoulder. He might have broken something, but now wasn’t the time to pay attention to something so petty. He scanned the darkening horizon, but there was no sign of Quicksilver, either Iron Man, or any of the other Avengers.

“I killed your sister,” James called out as loudly as he could. “I took her by the throat and crushed her neck until she couldn’t breathe.”

He was almost expecting it this time, but it still took him off guard.

It came from the front, barrelling into him with such force that James flew back again and hit a tree.

When his eyes refocused, it was to find Quicksilver sneering about two inches from his face.

“You killed my sister, so I’ll kill you,” he snapped in heavily accented English. “You’ll never see it coming.”

“I could say the same to you,” James said, grabbing Quicksilver’s shirt. He wrenched Quicksilver left so that Hawkeye’s arrow was a hit.

Quicksilver cried out as the arrow sank deep into his side. 

“You’ve killed enough people,” James breathed in his face, and then he took hold of Quicksilver’s head and snapped his neck before letting go. The body hit the ground.

For a moment, it was quiet.

James stared down at what he’d done and felt no remorse whatsoever.

Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch had deserved what they got for what they’d done in Hydra’s name.

Hawkeye must have given the all-clear, because suddenly the area was flooded with people. Many of them were dressed in black suits, like something out of a creepy movie. James took a step back, uncomfortable at having so many people all up in his space. His discomfort only increased when he saw Steve making his way towards him. He knew the set of Steve’s shoulders: this wasn’t going to be pleasant.

“Do you want me to get rid of him?” Stark asked, somehow appearing by James’s elbow.

“I don’t think you could,” James said.

Stark sighed. “Probably not, but I’d try.”

“It’s fine,” James said. “Tell Tony to wait for me on the other side of the park, would you?”

He stepped forward to meet Steve without waiting for an answer, but then again it didn’t really matter if Stark did as he’d asked. He and Tony would find each other afterwards either way.

“Bucky,” Steve breathed the instant they were within hearing distance, and James fought the urge to flinch at the sound of that name. 

“No,” he said, knowing even as he spoke that Steve wouldn’t know what that meant. And sure enough, Steve’s face crinkled with confusion. 

“Yeah, you are. That’s you. Bucky Barnes,” Steve said, looking like he wanted nothing more than to lunge across the remaining distance and shake James until some memories jarred loose. James slowed to a stop, watching him carefully just in case Steve got it in his head to actually try that. 

“I’m not Bucky Barnes, Steve,” he said as gently as he knew how, which wasn’t all that gentle at all. “That man died a long time ago.”

“But –” Steve began, only for James to hold up a hand.

“Please listen to me,” he said.

Steve fell quiet, looking at him with wide, imploring eyes.

It made a little part of James ache a bit. He thought that was probably the part of him that was still Bucky Barnes. But it was a very small part, and James was able to squash it. Everyone wanted something from him. Hydra wanted the Winter Soldier. Steve wanted Bucky Barnes. James was tired of all that. He was sick of dealing with what other people wanted.

What about what _he_ wanted?

No one had ever cared about that.

Except for one person.

“I was Bucky Barnes once,” James said slowly, choosing each word carefully. “But not anymore. I was with Hydra for 75 years, Steve. _75 years_. I can’t be the man that you knew. Even if I remember everything, and I don’t… it’s impossible.”

“But…” Steve shook his head. “You _are_ Bucky.” He sounded like he was going to cry. Strangely enough, that only stiffened James’s resolve.

“I’m not. You have to stop thinking of me that way. It would be better for both of us if you let Bucky Barnes rest in peace. It’s what he deserves,” said James. 

Saying the words gave him a kind of peace that he had never experienced before.

He wasn’t Bucky Barnes.

He _couldn’t_ be Bucky Barnes.

Even for Steve, it was just…

Impossible.

“But Bucky,” Steve said, taking a step closer.

James took a corresponding step back. “No.”

He still didn’t like saying that word, but right now it felt right.

When it looked like Steve wanted to keep arguing, James turned on his heel and walked away. It would take time for his message to fully sink into Steve’s brain. He hoped that someday it would. He wasn’t opposed to being friends with Steve again in the future, but only if Steve could be friends with James and not the shadow of Bucky Barnes.

So maybe it would never happen. It all depended on Steve.

He grabbed the motorcycle and climbed back on, circling the park. It was pretty easy to spot Tony. Even in the middle of a crowd, a guy like that would always stand up. James drove up next to him and let the bike idle, balancing himself with one foot on the ground. Tony stated at him for a few seconds.

Then he said, “It’s really not fair that you can look that hot.”

James snorted, the tension dissolving like magic. “Could say the same to you sometimes,” he said. “That’s Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch down.”

Tony nodded. “I told Stark about you and his parents.”

“What did he say? Should I be expecting the police to come arrest me?” James asked, only half-joking.

“He needs time,” Tony said quietly. “I think he’ll come around… but…”

“But I should make myself scarce,” James said, understanding what Tony didn’t want to say. He couldn’t find it in himself to be surprised.

“It would probably be best if we weren’t around for a while,” Tony agreed. “I… may have dumped a lot of information on him in a very short amount of time.” He ran a hand trhough his hair. “I know me. I think it’lle b okay, but it would be best if we gave him some space.”

We.

James breathed a little easier hearing that.

“So I thought maybe we could keep going. Track down the next Hydra agent on my list?” Tony said, looking at James hopefully.

“Hop on,” James said. “We just have to swing by the tower to pick up Stefan.”

Tony laughed, stepped closer, and pecked him on the mouth. “Lead the way.”

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on [tumblr](https://tsuki-chibi.tumblr.com/).


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